Cauliflower in White Sauce

Tender cauliflower in white sauce served with potatoes and boiled eggs, an easy vegetarian, delicious recipe.

This recipe for cauliflower in white sauce is a variation of one of my husband’s favorite meals Eggs in Mustard Sauce.

I came up with this recipe shortly after Easter this year as a way of using up some of the millions of hard-boiled eggs we still had leftover. However, in this case, the cauliflower is the star of the show, the eggs are just an optional topping.

What do you need?

Simple, cheap and healthy ingredients.

Cauliflower: either fresh or frozen. If frozen, place in the water without bothering to defrost first and cook until al dente. Don’t discard the stem, it tastes just as good as the florets.

Peas: they don’t need to be fully defrosted. Take them out of the freezer when you start cooking, they will be fine by the time you add them to the dish and they only need to be heated through.

White sauce: butter, flour, milk, and the cauliflower’s cooking liquid. And mustard, Dijon is my first choice, but your favorite brand of medium-hot mustard should be fine.

How to make cauliflower with white sauce?

• You will probably want to serve the cauliflower with eggs and potatoes. In this case, start cooking those before you begin. Especially the potatoes will need a slightly longer cooking time.
• Divide the clean cauliflower into florets and cut the peeled stem into rough cubes. Boil in vegetable stock until tender, but not mushy.
• Drain and keep the stock, you will need it to make the white sauce.
• Make the sauce by melting the butter in a large saucepan. Sprinkle the flour on top, let get slightly golden. Slowly add the milk and the stock while whisking continously.
• It is important to whisk all the time to avoid clumps. Should you still have some small clumps in the sauce it is ok to blend the sauce shortly with an immersion blender.
• Add mustard to taste, I always add more than 2 tablespoons, probably something between 3 and 4, but that is definitely to taste. Start with less, stir well, taste, and add more only if you really like a strong mustard taste.
• Adjust the taste with salt, pepper, and nutmeg (generously).
• Stir in the peas and heat gently for a few minutes.

How to serve?

• I almost always serve the cauliflower in white sauce with hard-boiled eggs and boiled potatoes.
• Mashed potatoes or rice are fine as well.
• You can leave the eggs if you don’t want them or replace them with chicken breast, white fish fillet, or smoked trout.

More cauliflower with sauce:

Turkey Meatball Casserole

Romanian Cauliflower Mayonnaise Salad

Vegan Cauliflower Mac and Cheese

Cauliflower Curry with Potatoes

Cauliflower in Tomato Sauce

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Cauliflower in White Sauce

Yield: 4

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Tender cauliflower in white sauce served with potatoes and boiled eggs, an easy vegetarian, delicious recipe.

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Ingredients

• 1 cauliflower, about 500 g/ 1 lb
• 700 ml/ 23.6 fl.oz/ 3 cups vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 150 ml/ 5 fl.oz/ 2/3 cup milk
• 1-2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 200 g/ 7 oz/ 1 ¼ cup frozen peas, defrosted
• a bunch of parsley
• some nutmeg
• fine salt and pepper
• 4-6 hard-boiled eggs to serve
• boiled potatoes to serve

Instructions

1. If serving the dish with potatoes and eggs, start cooking them now.
2. Divide the cauliflower into medium-large florets and cut the stalk into cubes. Place in a pot with the vegetable broth, bring to a boil, and cook for about 5 minutes or until on the soft side but not mushy. Drain and reserve the broth.
3. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Sprinkle the flour on top and let it get some color for about 2 minutes, it should be pale yellow.
4. Add the milk gradually while whisking continuously, then slowly add the reserved vegetable broth while whisking all the time. Bring to a boil and simmer on medium-low heat for about 3-4 minutes while stirring very often.
5. Add Dijon mustard. Start with 1 tablespoon and add more according to your taste. Adjust the taste generously with nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
6. Add the peas and simmer for about 3 minutes stirring often.
7. Sprinkle with chopped parsley (or dill). Serve immediately with boiled eggs and boiled potatoes.
   

Notes

The nutrition is calculated without the eggs and the potatoes. By adding one egg and 200 g/ 7 oz potatoes per serving, each complete serving will have about 450 calories.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1/4 of the dish
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 192Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 18mgSodium: 933mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 7gSugar: 7gProtein: 8g

Nutritional information is not always accurate.